My Weblog

Customer Creations Spotlight Nancy & Victor Minnick!

Nancy & Victor Minnick have a lot of creative fun with what they are always saying is their "little house".  These photos are oldies but goodies.  They actually purchased these things from our Queen's Inn shop prior to us opening the Royal Port.  They wanted a screen for their back door to the garden.  The old screen with its gingerbread details makes a perfect addition. 
They also wanted to add a window to their simple shed.  Victor installed an early arched Victorian  window.  It adds light and charm to a newer style shed.  Thank you for sharing your ideas.  Suzanne

Customer Creations Spotlight Shawn and Steve Vazquez!

Today I am spotlighting Shawn & Steve and one of the creative projects they completed in their old farmhouse.  They were redoing their laundry/mud room and wanted to add storage.  They purchased a set of painted cabinets from the Royal Port that we had sitting on the floor of the shop as more of a sideboard.  Their vision of the piece took a different slant.  Why not take these cupboards and mount them on the wall above their work area?  They added a shelf above for displaying collections. The early cupboard shows off its details so nicely as a hanging cupboard as opposed to a side board.   What is normally "just a laundry room" turned into a nice country mudroom with warm colors and a comfortable and useful work space.  Great Job!  Suzanne

Customer Creations Spotlight Rita & Dan's Ottoman!

Rita & Dan always come up with cleaver ideas to add to our customer creations.  Rita had this great Freihofer's bread bin with an open top.  She and Dan purchased an old feed bag from the Royal Port.   Dan created a frame for the box so that the feed bag with filling as well as an inserted board could sit nicely on top.  This way the box now acts as an ottoman as well as great storage. I love the idea.  (There is a wooden Freihofer's box in the shop if anyone wants to recreate Dan's Ottoman)  Suzanne

Customer Creations Spotlight Todd Danner's Planters!

 Todd came into our shop one day looking for louver and panel shutters to make planters.   He utilized different size shutters to create an outdoor area in a city environment.   He made all of the boxes different allowing the louvers and the panels to dictate height size.  I like the fact that he left them in their original state as well as their paint colors.  They make a very interesting statement walking down a city street.   I can picture these on patios, decks or sprinkled throughout a garden.  Thanks for sharing your photos.  Suzanne

Customer Creations Spotlight Georgia & Barbara's Mantels!

My spotlight today focuses on Sister's Georgia and Barbara.  I enjoy when they come into the Royal Port because they love Early American Primitives.  Both Sisters wanted a mantel for their home even though they didn't have a fireplace to go with it.    I love how both of them have placed them in their rooms and decorated them with their collections.  They both picked very similar mantels from our shop.  Both mantels were mounted on a paint color that allowed the white mantel to stand out in the room but also allows for the collections to show nicely as well.   I like how they left the mantels primitive.  This idea can be used in any room.  It adds a nice architectural feel to the room as well as an added space for showcasing collections or paintings as well as seasonal decorating.  Thanks Georgia and Barbara for sharing your photos.  Suzanne

Royal Port Antiques Customer Creations Spotlight Rosemary Russell!

With the start of the New Year we will be continuing what we call our customer creations posts.  The Royal Port Antiques loves seeing what our customers do with the items they purchase especially those created with architectural elements.  Rosemary Russell and her husband have shared several of their projects with us.   One of my favorite pieces is this early store counter. I loved using it for displaying inventory in the shop.  Rosemary removed the frosted surface on the glass so that she could showcase her glassware.  This piece was a great addition to her remodeled kitchen.   Above the counter Rosemary had shelves installed using early corbels she had gotten at the Royal Port. The shelves give the kitchen an open and airy feel while still providing beautiful space for everyday kitchen items.  She carried the idea of the shelving to other areas of the room as well. The use of the corbels really adds to the simple one board shelf.  This is an idea anyone can do in any room.  Thank you to the Russell family for sharing their creative ideas with us.  Suzanne

Royal Port Antiques: Planning for the future by Recycling Today!

Happy New Year!  We are excited about the New Year!  Mike and I are always talking about how we can add excitement and pizazz to our shop.  I even caught Sammy reading the latest issue of the Magazine Antiques.   I was reading the December issue of the Maine Antique Digest  and an ad for a Nashville Show by Jenkins Management caught my eye.  In the ad they had a small post it size note that read  "Recycle in Style, Buy Vintage and Antique".    I really liked the wording.  I think that is what we strive to do here at the Royal Port....do it in Style!!  I don't usually make New Year's resolutions but I think that is it in a nut shell.  The Royal Port is going to continue to offer inventory that allows our customers to Recycle in Style by buying the best antiques and architectural items we can find!!  Before, during and after the holidays we acquired a large grouping of windows, doors, shutters, iron and lighting.  The items came from an Archtiectural Firm doing various projects in the Historic New Castle and Wilmington, DE areas.   If you are looking for items for your New Year's projects give us a call.  Stop by and lets measure, measure, measure.  In our future posts we will continue to add a link to additional photos of items not pictured in the blog in an album form.  I added a January 2011 Album of some of the architectural inventory in the shop and some that is on its way into the shop.  We hope you like this new format.  It allows you to see even more photos of the new inventory.  So Lets Recycle in Style in the New Year!  Suzanne